MANKATO, Minn. — While the Vikings deliver a few hits during training camp, the players in white baseball caps are dealing with their own pain.

Tight end John Carlson is one of several Vikings watching from a distance due to injury, having replaced pads and cleats with annoyance and a gloomy outlook for the short term.

Most stand with arms folded, not saying much, trying to get a few mental reps. Running back Adrian Peterson has been doing this all camp as he rehabs a torn left anterior cruciate ligament and spends part of practices working with head trainer Eric Sugarman.

Carlson, fresh off a grade 2 medial collateral ligament sprain from earlier in the week, spends his practices identifying each play, his role in the play and how the play is executed.

The task gets tiresome — and quickly.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated,” Carlson said Friday, Aug. 3. “There’s a lot of mental preparation that needs to be done, but I need to be on the field to work on my skills.”

Carlson has experience with this patience test. He missed the 2011 season with Seattle because of a shoulder injury. He intersperses rehab throughout the day, along with film work to offset the missed practice time.

At least this year there’s reason for optimism. He is expected to return before the Sept. 9 season opener against Jacksonville, and the injury probably could have been worse. A player fell backward into Carlson’s knee as part of a cluster finishing off a rushing play.

“It’s something that will heal quickly,” Carlson said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to get back as fast as I can.”

Idle time with injury can be especially painful for rookies trying to acclimate to the NFL and impress coaches to earn a job.

Cases in point: safety Robert Blanton and cornerback Josh Robinson.

The Vikings’ secondary essentially is an open audition, with Blanton and Robinson in the mix for first-team reps. However, both have been hampered by hamstring injuries that have limited their time on the field.

Neither injury is serious, but hamstrings can be problematic if not treated cautiously with time to rest, something Blanton, a fifth-round pick out of Notre Dame, grudgingly thinks about.

“All the time, every day,” he said. “It sucks. Timing’s not good at all. But you can’t think about it too much or kill yourself. That’s life.”

Staying engaged while the rest of the team runs through the playbook is the biggest challenge. At least in team meetings the injured players aren’t the only ones without pads.

“It’s aggravating. You’ve got to stay focused and stay positive and it will get you through,” said Robinson, who returned to practice Friday after missing a week. “I’m still learning the defense.”

Brian Murphy has been on the Pioneer Press sports staff since 2000, migrating from the Detroit Free Press, where he covered police, courts and sports for four years. Murphy was the Minnesota Wild/NHL beat writer from 2002 to 2008 and has covered the Vikings as a reporter and columnist since 2009. Murphy is a Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate.

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